Kraken

Yesterday I mentioned the Canadian stamps that Canada created honoring the werewolf, ogopogo, bigfoot, and kraken. What is the kraken and does the kraken really exist?

The kraken is a legendary sea creature said to be controlled by Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. It is said to be a huge creature that rises out of the depths of the ocean and can easily sink ships by wrapping its arms around the ship and pulling it down. Different stories describe the kraken in various ways – in some instances it’s described as a giant creature resembling an octopus, and sometimes it’s described as a monster similar to a huge crab.

Real stories of the kraken date as far back as the twelfth century. The creature was rumored to be gigantic, sometimes described as a “floating island”. As time has gone on, there have been sighting of the creature on and off. Over time however the kraken’s size has decreased from the leviathon size it once was described as to a smaller (though still respectably huge) size. The real eyewitness reports and the change of the creature over time could point to the fact that the kraken is real.

First, eyewitness reports alone may very well prove that the kraken is in fact a real creature that sailors have seen in the sea. This is a belief that many believe is in fact true. Witnesses have not been making up these sighting at all, so the question is what is the creature? Some think that the kraken is some type of real sea creature…some even think it might be a giant squid, or some species of that.

Second, if you don’t want to believe simply in eyewitness reports, then you could look at what the eyewitnesses are in fact reporting…. a changing size of the creature over time. This could be furthur proof that the kraken is in fact real. Over time, most creatures evolve and change in response in part to environmental changes. The fact that the creature has gotten smaller over time could indicate that the creature may be changing and adapting – as many species do.

Many authors have celebrated the kraken in their works. A poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson is one of the more famous works, but even Jules Verne has written of the kraken. Movies too. In fact, we’re about to see a remake of the “Clash of the Titans” come to theaters, which features the Kraken being released as a means of destruction.